Pope Francis calls for Catholic Church to oppose anti-gay lawsPope Francis stated that homosexuality is not a crime into action by actively supporting efforts to repeal laws criminalisation in Africa
by Mambaonline.com
30-01-2023 09:57
in LGBTQIA
Pope Francis calls for Catholic Church to oppose anti-gay laws. Photo by Ashwin Vaswani via Unsplash.com
The Catholic Church must put Pope Francis' historic statement that homosexuality is not a crime into action by actively supporting efforts to repeal laws criminalising homosexuality in Africa.
--
In an interview with the Associated Press on Tuesday, Francis asserted that homosexuality is not a crime but acknowledged that some would argue that it's a sin .
He responded, Fine, but first let's distinguish between a sin and a crime.
The head of the Catholic Church pointed out, however, that It's also a sin to lack charity with one another.
--
Pope Francis said that laws criminalising homosexuality are unjust and that the church should campaign to end them. It must do this. It must do this, he said.
The pontiff believes that Catholic bishops who continue to support or advocate for laws against gay people have to have a process of conversion, and that they must treat everyone with tenderness, please, as God has for each one of us.
The Pope's comments come just days before his planned visit to Congo and South Sudan.
ALSO READ: Details: Cape Town Pride 2023 parade and mardi gras
--
According to ILGA World, 66 UN member states continue to criminalise consensual same-sex sexual relations, a large number of them in Africa.
The continent has one of the fastest growing Catholic populations in the world, with almost 200 million members.
ILGA World co-Secretaries General, Luz Elena Aranda and Tuisina Ymania Brown, welcomed the Pope's words. Such a simple statement has now the potential to initiate a much-needed change and will provide relief to millions of persons in our communities across the world, they said in a statement.
Julia Ehrt, executive director at ILGA World, called for the Holy See to turn these words into concrete action, and said that The Catholic Church and its institutions can and should play an active role in supporting decriminalisation efforts across the world and within the United Nations and multilateral fora.
Francis DeBernardo, executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group New Ways Ministry, believes that this call for decriminalisation will help save lives and promote respect for LGBTQ people, particularly in areas where law or social norms make them victims of fear, hatred, violence, and death.
The Pope is reminding the church that the way people treat one another in the social world is of much greater moral importance that what people may possibly do in the privacy of a bedroom, he added.
Pope Francis has previously stated that gays and lesbians should not be judged or discriminated against and met with the parents of LGBTQ children, telling them their children are worthy of love from the church.
In 2020, he expressed his approval of the legal recognition of same-sex unions by the state (but not the church).
Francis remains opposed to the recognition of same-sex marriage. He's also rejected transgender rights and gender diversity, describing these in public statements as threats to the family and humanity.
According to official Catholic doctrine, same-sex sex is defined as an [act] of grave depravity , intrinsically disordered and contrary to the natural law .
Article by Luiz De Barros
This article was initially published on MAMBAonlie.com
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ARTICLES BY Mambaonline.com
SOAPIE QUIZ: How well do you know Uzalo'? WIN R1 000 in cash! ENTER HERE
Most recent headlines
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
18/12/2025
Long-term agreement includes the SES SCORE platform and hybrid distribution worldwide to deliver more than 5,000 hours of golf tournaments annually featuring th...
18/12/2025
At 7.45pm on 1st January 1926, the precursor to RT , then 2RN, delivered the fledgling new Irish state's first public radio transmission. From those first c...
18/12/2025
Step out of the vault and into the future of gaming with Fallout: New Vegas streaming on GeForce NOW, just in time to celebrate the newest season of the hit Ama...
18/12/2025
December 18 2025, 05:30 (PST) The Movie Experience SLO Becomes First U.S. Exhib...
17/12/2025
Investigative journalists across the Western Balkans and T rkiye continue to con...
17/12/2025
Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame Inducts 10 Industry Icons During Unforgettable ...
17/12/2025
ESPN to Debut MNF Playbook with Next Gen Stats, a New AI-Driven NFL Data-AltCastThe series, powered by Adrenaline TruPlay AI, launches Dec. 22 and runs through ...
17/12/2025
Inaugural Optum Golf Channel Games Debut Under the Lights' in Primetime on ...
17/12/2025
The right playlist is essential on New Year's Eve, building the energy as you get ready and keeping it high as you count down to midnight. This year, Spotif...
17/12/2025
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
17/12/2025
Audiences Watched Over 103 Billion Minutes of TV on Thanksgiving Day
NFL Games ...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
17/12/2025
KPop Demon Hunters Stars Visit Berklee for Weeklong Celebration Andrew Choi and EJAE, who voiced the film's main characters and contributed to its soundtr...
17/12/2025
December 17 2025, 17:00 (PST) Dolby and LG Unveil a New Era of Home Audio With ...
17/12/2025
Wednesday 17 December 2025
Heated Rivalry will be coming to Sky and streaming service NOW on 10 JanuaryTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy opti...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Inside The Unseen World Of Indian Customs: Netflix Reveals The...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix announces PAPARAZZI KING: the docu series coming to Ne...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Unveils First Look at Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole Pr...
17/12/2025
Back to All News
Netflix Welcomes Warner Bros. Discovery Board Recommendation
Business
17 December 2025
Global
Link copied to clipboard
After Careful Revi...
17/12/2025
RT has announced that Kathy Fox has been appointed Commissioning Editor with re...
17/12/2025
The Hao AI Lab research team at the University of California San Diego - at the forefront of pioneering AI model innovation - recently received an NVIDIA DGX B...
17/12/2025
Editor's note: This post is part of Into the Omniverse, a series focused on ...
17/12/2025
With the new season of Dancing with the Stars shimmering in the not-too-distant future this New Year, the celebrity and dancer pairings of the twelve couples ha...
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
Pope Francis calls for Catholic Church to oppose anti-gay lawsPope Francis stated that homosexuality is not a crime into action by actively supporting efforts to repeal laws criminalisation in Africa
